Vote daily for Xtreme IT!, a precollegiate summer academy at UMSL, to receive a grant from Monsanto’s Grow St. Louis Contest. Supporters can vote through Jan. 29 at stlgrown.com.

Xtreme IT!, a precollegiate summer academy at the University of Missouri–St. Louis needs your help.

The academy has been selected as one of 141 local nonprofit organizations eligible for three grants up to $15,000 from Monsanto’s Grow St. Louis Contest. The three organizations with the most online votes will receive grants. Supporters can vote daily through Jan. 29 at stlgrown.com.

Vicki Sauter, professor of information systems at UMSL and Ray Creely, UMSL alumnus and former IBM executive, developed the weeklong camp at UMSL in 2008 to introduce the field of information technology to a younger generation.

“This funding will allow us the flexibility to make the camp an even better experience for participants by providing better exercises and field trips,” Sauter said. “Also, the funding will allow more students who do not have the means to participate in the program. More students getting a better experience will, in turn, help us attract more students to technology careers, which the St. Louis region needs.”

Xtreme IT! allows high school students to live in the UMSL residence halls for a week while attending workshops and visiting local businesses to learn about information technology. At the end of the camp, students present Web pages they developed based on the techniques and skills they learned during camp.

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Jen Hatton

Jen Hatton